Every word Southampton's Russell Martin said ahead of facing Forest

Q: It's been a busy summer already in terms of incomings. Are you expecting a busy final week? And do you need to get players out before you bring players in?

RM: Yeah, I think I said that in the last press conference. We're a big squad at the moment.

So we played 11 v 11 yesterday and this morning and there's a couple of guys on the outside that we're having to swap in and out.

They're not young guys. They're guys with hundreds of games under their belt. It's only natural that we would probably have to lose a few to bring one or two in.

And again, it depends on the circumstance, the timing of the player that we maybe want, and then I think the urgency of it all and how important it is to us.

But I think in terms of incomings and outgoings, I would expect us to be still a bit busy between now and the end.

Q: Is Jack Clarke a player that you like and are interested in?

RM: He's a player that done very, very well in the Championship over the last couple of seasons.

We've been linked to a number of players over the summer. A lot of them are miles away and I've never even heard of some of them.

Some of them have been one chat in the building maybe or watched a few videos and that's it. Left wing is not a place where we are really light on numbers right now.

Ben Brereton-Diaz plays there, Sam Edozie plays there. We have other guys that can operate there. I wouldn't say it's high on the priority list right now.

Jack is a really talented player and his agent Lee is a very good friend of mine. He would know, as I would, if it was anywhere near to being done or we were in that race. At this moment in time, we are not.

Q: You must have circled the first Premier League game in the season in the diary?

RM: Yeah, I think it's gonna be really exciting for us. I think the last time we were there, West Brom, in the play-off semi-final was incredible.

It was the best atmosphere I've experienced at St Mary's and one of the best I've experienced in football.

So if we can get anywhere near that feeling and that energy and that atmosphere, then it'll be brilliant.

I think it's a just reward for the support, for the patience they showed to us last season, the connection between them and the team, and how much that grew.

I hope everyone can enjoy it. I said the same thing and I enjoyed so much of the performance at Newcastle.

Especially in the first half an hour, 11 vs 11, because they're not an easy team to play against. Eddie Howe's done a brilliant job there.

My overriding feeling was frustration, disappointment and hurt at losing. We can take the level of performance we had and use the anger and frustration.

Then we can all feel much better after this Saturday and make the first game back in the Premier League at home something we remember fondly.

Whilst I remember lots of the performance at Newcastle, it won't be with too much fondness because we lost the game.

Q: You talk about remembering the game fondly. The last time Southampton played Forest at St Mary's, a lot of them see it as the lowest ebb in their entire lifetime. Is that something you're aware of, that low watermark?

RM: No, not until now, so I appreciate that. I just think football has the privilege of creating memories and moments for so many people that they'll remember forever, for a long time.

They'll remember the day, what they were doing when certain things happened. So the Wembley win last season, West Brom at home in the play-offs.

There were some games that I'll remember forever during the season. I even spoke to a couple of my mates at the end of last season after Wembley and family members.

Talking about the last 20 years and the journey that I've been on in my career and how many of their best moments have been based around being there or being there to celebrate and enjoy and share that moment with me as part of my career.

So the players here have an unbelievable opportunity to do the same again this season. To give people moments, the supporters, their families, themselves, us together as a group to experience brilliant moments.

On Saturday, the first game back in the Premier League, which the players deserve after last season and the supporters deserve after last seasons.

The owners deserve it for being really brave actually and giving us an opportunity to come here and do things in a different way.

I hope at the end of the game we deserve to win and that everyone has a nice feeling about it.

Q: You talked about your frustration coming away from Newcastle last weekend, but there must have been an element of satisfaction that the style of football you want to play worked against one of the top teams in the Premier League.

RM: I hope so. I hope it gave enough - we just spoke about moments then, but I hope it gave the players enough moments to realise actually they can really do it.

I hope it gave the supporters enough moments to realise that we are going to try and be ourselves.

No, we're not going to try. We are going to be ourselves and some days it will work and some days it will be tough.

I think we've learnt a lot from Saturday already about the players and how brave they are, they're willing to be because there's not many more difficult places than Newcastle away to try and gain some level of control in the game.

All the stats back that up since Eddie's been the manager there, how aggressive they are, how relentless they are.

For us to turn the game into what we did on so many occasions, even 11 against 10, the game just didn't become transitional and that's down to the players and their willingness to be aggressive with the ball.

I think there's still a lot of gears for them to crunch through with that. I think we will hopefully continue to get better and better at what we do and we do it because we think it's the best way for us to win and to be in the Premier League again next season.

So the more moments we have where the players feel it on the pitch that they belong and they can play this way, then they're better for us and I know they can do it.

I really believe in them and I think they really believe in us and what we're doing and I think that will be vital and really important to us achieving anything this season.

Q: There'll be 7,000 safe standing in the Northam stand, which is sold out for the season at the top. I just wonder what you think that will add?

RM: Yeah, I think it will add a lot to us. Just having that whole stand behind the goal, I think it will give us a lot.

It will make a big difference to the atmosphere, I think. I think it's a great idea. I think the players will appreciate it and the fans will enjoy it.

My son's pestered me about a season ticket in there. He's not going to go there yet, maybe in another few months we'll see. I think it will be great.

I think it will be really good. I grew up in Brighton watching the Albion at the Goldstone on the North Terrace and the North Stand trying to get on the news after games when they scored a goal in that end.

Hopefully we are there to create some more memories and moments for the people standing there and the whole crowd, to be honest.

They were great with us last season, especially after a fairly difficult and bumpy start. I hope they now feel a really strong connection to the team.

I hope after Saturday they see that we are setting out to be the same team that they were proud of last season, that achieved something really brilliant.

I've got no doubt it will be a brilliant atmosphere, but we have to bring the right energy and aggression and identity and courage in the team for them to really bounce off.

Q: The fans might see a couple of new signings in Lesley Ugochukwu and Mateus Fernandes. Those two lads have only had a few training sessions, I'm guessing?

RM: Yes, that's all they've had, but I really like them both as people. We watched a lot of both of them and we're really excited to work with them.

I think the club, the ownership group and ourselves, everyone's really aligned. We want players who are hungry to be here, desperate to improve, to want to be part of the style that we play in.

This is their opportunity, it's not a step to something else. They want to be here with us in the Premier League.

Of course, they'll all have their own ambition and different motivations, but I've really been impressed by them in the first few days of training.

I think they're both really exciting signings. Young, hungry and they now need to get themselves into the team.

That's the biggest challenge because we have a fairly settled team that have played a lot of games together, good relationships. Now they have to force their way into that.

Q: In terms of your opponents this weekend, Nuno's got his feet under the table a bit more now, having kept them up. How do you see them changing this season?

RM: I don't know. I think Nuno has a way of doing things and has been very successful.

His Wolves team, when I played against them in the Championship a long time ago, were one of the best I've seen at that level, for sure. I think they have incredibly talented players at the top end of the pitch.

They have some real individual brilliance and some real athleticism and power and can hurt teams in an instant, in a moment. They're really good at what they do, so we have to be really aware of that.

Always, we are at home. We want to be ourselves. We want to be the team we want to be. We want the crowd to really be with us. We want the crowd to enjoy the team they're watching and we want to enjoy the performance.

Of course, we've worked on a few things since Saturday that we need to improve on. That's the process. Also, us being aware of Forest and the threat that they pose.

They're difficult to break down. They made them really defensively solid to create chances against last season was tough.

So, we have to be aware of that and the threat they pose at the top end and try and bring the performance we want to.

Q: What did you make of Taylor Harwood-Bellis' Premier League debut?

RM: I thought he was great. I thought they all were, honestly. I don't think there was a poor performance in our team.

We took Yuki off at half-time purely because we wanted to be more aggressive and bring a winger on the pitch.

I thought he did great for his first Premier League start. It would do them the world of good just to get that under their belt and get it out of the way.

I remember when I did it and you just want that first game out of the way to say you've played in a Premier League.

Hopefully, Taylor's realised quickly that as long as he's himself and stays himself and does the things we're asking him to do and continues to want to learn and improve and grow, he's going to be in a Premier League for a long, long time. I really believe that.

Hopefully, it's our job to make sure he's here with us for as long as possible.

Q: Just finally, they said they'd seen a clip of you in the meeting yesterday. Was that an example of what to do?

RM: No, that was definitely an example of what not to do.

That was basically just to give the lads a chance to laugh at me for a few minutes. Yeah, don't go trying to find the clip. That's all I'm saying.

I can see it in your eyes, yeah. You don't need to find that clip. But it hurt. It did hurt. I was playing left wing back at the time, that's my excuse.

Q: Russell, if I can talk about the new signings, the three since we sat in a week ago, a bit more. Firstly, in general terms, you have a detailed way of playing. How long or how hard is it for players to come in and adapt to what you need them to do?

RM: It depends on how similarly they've played before, where they come from, their background, in terms of what their playing history is, sometimes how old they are.

But ultimately it's just their willingness to learn and to be open to new ideas and to attack it.

So what I would say is the number six position, where Lesley will ultimately compete with Flynn and maybe sometimes play alongside Flynn, the game has to go through you.

So that's not an easy position to learn for us very quickly but he's already been hit with a lot of information and a lot of work and he's adapting really nicely to it.

So we have a game on Wednesday, which will be a brilliant chance for some of them guys to step onto the pitch and play in this way.

Mateus is just a really talented footballer and can be quite flexible in terms of position and is used to, not the same, but used to playing in a similar role where he was last year on loan.

We'll see how long it takes him to adapt. It's very different for everyone, but I've got no doubt they both will.

Q: Have you seen how good Mateus already?

RM: Yeah, really good footballer. Really, really good footballer. That's why we're so keen to bring him here.

When Rasmus said the deal had been agreed, at one point I thought we'd maybe not get him because there was a lot of interest and Sporting weren't overly keen to let him go.

And in the end, I think, dictated to by financial necessity or whatever. We're really pleased to get him in the build. I think it's a brilliant signing for us. Someone we've watched for a long time.

I think already we've seen in a couple of days the level of detail he has in his game, in possession, and also he's hungry and aggressive without the ball.

It's an exciting one for us and the club. And it's another young player that could be a really brilliant piece of business financially for the club eventually as well.

Q: We haven't really had the chance to talk about Cameron Archer either because he sort of came on last Saturday, so everyone already thinks he's in. But how much does he help your options in the way you want to play?

RM: I think it gives us flexibility. He's a proper goalscorer, quick, really intelligent with his movement. I think it's just about adapting to us and what we really want.

He was so impressive for Middlesbrough a couple of seasons ago. I played against him when we were at Swansea and he was outstanding.

That front three were all outstanding. They all got moves, I think, at the end of that season. And then he's also had the disappointment of last season.

So he's desperate to prove to people he is a Premier League player and can do it and will do it. And he wanted to be here and he's really hungry to be here. 

I spoke to a couple of guys at Villa. I know a couple of players and they had nothing but good things to say about him.

Woody's played with him, Taylor's played with him here for the England team. Obviously, Ben Brereton Diaz played for him last year.

So everyone spoke so highly of him and that's what we've seen. He's scored a lot of goals in training this week. He looks sharp.

Q: You've been heavily linked with Justin Bijlow, what can you tell us about him?

RM: Mateus played at Goztepe last year and did brilliantly. His family are very happy there. 

He came back in here to see what opportunity he might have but I think his wish was always to go back there and play football.

I'm really happy for him that he's got that because he's a really great guy. Jan Bednarek was a bit of a sad face watching his mate go out the door.

I think it's good for him but we are a goalkeeper short now because Gavin Bazunu is injured. We have Joe Lumley and Alex McCarthy as senior goalkeepers.

The goalkeeper you have mentioned is probably one on the long list that we have watched and looked at.

Once it is near close to being done, then obviously we'll have a discussion about it. I don't know who it will be yet but we definitely need help in that department.